A bill that would make sex trafficking of minors a strike under California’s “Three Strikes” law heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee Friday for a decision on whether it will be put on hold or move forward to a vote by the entire Assembly.
Senate Bill 14, introduced by Republican Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, has continued to gather steam for passage, the senator said Wednesday at a press conference
The legislation now has 64 co-authors, including 46 Assembly members and nine members of the 16-member Appropriations Committee, she said.
Grove’s motivation for the legislation is the rising incidence of sex trafficking, and her bill would increase fines and time behind bars for repeat offenders.
“We all know that sex trafficking in the state of California is a hotbed,” she said. “And it’s actually the number two most illicit crime in the United States, only second behind the drug trade.”
In a rare unanimous vote, the Senate passed SB 14 in June. Then the bill ran into trouble on the Assembly side when the Public Safety Committee initially rejected the legislation over concerns about prison crowding.
Grove said she was “shocked” by that action given the bipartisan support the bill had received.
A loud and very public reaction quickly forced the committee to rethink its vote. Critics of the no vote included Gov. Gavin Newsom and hundreds of activist organizations and law enforcement members involved in anti-trafficking efforts across California.
A day later, SB 14 cleared the Public Safety Committee 6-0, with two abstentions, on July 13. Now it sits in the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file awaiting Friday’s vote.
Grove said that if the bill ultimately passes, she will consider attempting to make all human trafficking a Three Strikes crime.
“We learned very quickly that you move legislation in California incrementally,” she said.